Lens for sighting, and sighting system using same

ABSTRACT

A lens for sighting, includes: a first lens which is inserted in a housing of a sight fixed to a gun and is disposed perpendicular to a line-of-sight of a shooter; a light emitting element which is mounted on one surface or the other surface of the first lens and emits light having a specific wavelength band; and first and second transparent wirings which are stacked on the one surface or the other surface of the first lens and supply power to the light emitting element. Dot and bow sight type sighting systems using the same are further disclosed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of Korean Application No. 10-2011-0051564, filed on May 30, 2011, with the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a sight and more particularly, to a lens for sighting which is capable of rapid and accurate aiming by causing a shooter to perceive a light point even more clearly while reducing a range of error caused by a reflecting lens, and a sighting system using the same.

2. Description of the Related Art

In general, a sight is referred to as an optical device attached to a gun for aiming at a target.

A traditional aiming method using line-of-sight alignment of a backsight and a foresight has demerits in that it has a big error due to vibration and shaking, disadvantage in near field and rapid aiming, immersion of a line-of sight into the backlight and foresight on the nature of naked eyes having the disability of multifocus, which makes the target cloudy.

Accordingly, an optical scope has been developed to alleviate troublesomeness of the line-of-sight alignment and increase precision of the line-of-sight alignment. The optical scope may be generally classified into a prism type and a relay lens type, both of which use an objective lens, an eyepiece and a reticle for magnification of the target and exact aiming by the reticle. However, the optical scope also has an error due to vibration and shaking and a restriction on rapid aiming. To overcome this problem, an optical sight such as a dot sight replacing the reticle with a light point has been introduced and is being widely used.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a structure of a typical dot sight.

As shown, the general dot sight includes a cylindrical housing 2 attached to a gun, a transparent window 4 sealing one end of the housing 2 directing to a target, a light emitting element 6 mounted on one inner side of the housing 2 and serving as a point light source such as an LED (Light emitting diode) emitting light having a specific wavelength band in the direction of the transparent window 4, and a reflecting lens 8 with a specific curvature obliquely interposed between the light emitting element 6 and the transparent window 4 within the housing 2 and selectively reflecting light having a specific wavelength band.

As a result, the light emitted from the light emitting element 6 is reflected by the reflecting lens 8 and is recognized as a highly bright light point in the line-of-sight of a shooter. Accordingly, when overlapping the light point with the target with the line-of sight concentrated on the target, the shooter can exactly aim at the target rapidly and correctly with no tunnel vision. For reference, the parallelism of the light point is adjusted to coincide with a bullet firing shaft of a gun barrel.

However, typical optical sights using the light point of the above-described dot sight have a wide range of error depending on precision and inclination of the reflecting lens 8.

As one example, since the light point viewed by the shooter through the above-described dot sight is an image formed on the reflecting lens 8 instead of the light emitting element 6, if the curvature or inclination of the reflecting lens 8 are incorrect, an error between the parallelism of the light point and the bullet firing shaft of the gun barrel may be increased to greatly lower the reliability of aiming. In addition, the reflecting lens 8 of the typical dot sight has a special coating film to selectively reflect light having a specific wavelength band. However, if there is a minute variation such as a refractive index difference due to the coating film, it is highly likely to distort the target or the light point or produce undesired diffused reflection on the nature of the reflecting lens disposed oblique to the line-of-sight of the shooter.

Accordingly, the optical sight using the light point requires precise machining and arrangement of the reflecting lens, which may result in increase in the total number of processes and manufacture costs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To overcome the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a lens for sighting which can be applied to not only a dot sight but also all kinds of optical sights using a light point and is capable of causing a shooter to perceive a light point even more clearly while reducing a range of error caused by a reflecting lens.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a sighting system which is capable of exactly aiming at a target even more rapidly and correctly using the above lens for sighting regardless of vibration and shaking.

To achieve the above objects, according to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a lens for sighting, including: a first lens which is inserted in a housing of a sight fixed to a gun and is disposed perpendicular to a line-of-sight of a shooter; a light emitting element which is mounted on one surface or the other surface of the first lens and emits light having a specific wavelength band; and first and second transparent wirings which are stacked on the one surface or the other surface of the first lens and supply power to the light emitting element.

Preferably, the light emitting element is one of an LED of a SMD (Surface Mount Device) type mounted on the one surface or the other surface of the first lens in a COG (Chip On Glass) manner and a multi-layered organic electroluminescent element stacked on the one surface or the other surface of the first lens, and the first and second transparent wirings are made of one of ITO (Indium Tin Oxide), IZO (Indium Zinc Oxide) and carbon nano tube.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a sighting system for dot sight, including: a cylindrical housing which is fixed to a gun and has one end direction to a shooter and the other end directing to a target; a first lens which is inserted in the housing to seal the one end of the housing, with a light emitting element mounted on one surface or the other surface of the first lens; a transparent window which is inserted in the housing to seal the other end of the housing; and a second lens which is interposed perpendicular to a line-of sight of the shooter between the first lens and the transparent window within the housing and selectively reflects light having a specific wavelength band toward the shooter.

Preferably, the second lens is a reflecting lens.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a sighting system for bow sight, including: a housing which is fixed to a gun and provides a lens hole; and a first lens which is inserted in the lens hole, with a light emitting element mounted on one surface or the other surface of the first lens.

According to the present invention, the lens for sighting can contribute to stable feed of power into the light emitting element mounted on the outer surface of the lens for sighting through the first and second transparent wirings, without hiding the line-of-sight of the shooter,

In addition, according to the present invention, since the lens for sighting can replace an inclined reflecting lens, which acts as a main cause of various errors in conventional optical sights, with a vertical reflecting lens, it is possible to prevent diffused reflection as well as distortion of the light point or the target and provide even more stable collimation.

Further, according to the present invention, the lens for sighting has high applicability since it can be employed for all kinds of sights using a light point, including magnification-free optical sights such as dot sights.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, the dot sight can prevent diffused reflection while causing the shooter to easily and clearly perceive the light point at all times through the first and second lenses disposed perpendicular to the line-of-sight of the shooter.

Moreover, according to the present invention, the bow sight is capable of rapidly and correctly aiming at the target since it can cause the shooter to directly perceive the light point through the first lens and the light emitting element mounted thereon, without hiding the line-of-sight of the shooter, instead of a pin hiding the line-of-sight of the shooter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and/or other aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a typical dot sight.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a dot sight to which a sighting lens according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the sighting lens according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a bow sight to which the sighting lens according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the bow sight to which the sighting lens according to the present invention is applied.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Prior to the detailed description, it is noted that a lens for sighting and a sighting system using the same according to the present invention can be applied to all kinds of sights using a light point, including magnification-free optical sights such as dot sights. Accordingly, for convenience' sake, although in the following description a dot sight and a bow sight will be described as some examples of the sighting system of the present invention, it should be understood to those skilled in the art from the following description that the technical idea of the present invention is not limited to the disclosed dot and bow sight examples.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a dot sight as one example of a sighting system to which a sighting lens according to the present invention is applied.

As shown, a dot sight according to the present invention includes a cylindrical housing 10 attached to a gun, a first lens 20 which serves as a sighting lens according to the present invention, is mounted thereon with a light emitting element 22 and seals one end of the housing 10 directing to a shooter, a transparent window 30 which seals the other end of the housing 10 directing to a target, and a second lens 40 which is interposed between the first lens 20 and the transparent window 30 within the housing 10.

Preferably, the first and second lenses 20 and 40 and the transparent window 30 are arranged perpendicular to the line-of-sight of the shooter, the light emitting element 22 mounted on the first lens 20 emits light having a specific wavelength band toward the second lens 40, and the second lens 40 is a reflecting lens which selectively reflects light having a specific wavelength band.

Details of these components are as follows.

The housing 10 acts as a scope tube or a similar one connecting the first and second lenses 20 and 40 and the transparent window 30 and has a cylindrical or similar shape made of synthetic resin or metal. Preferably, a fixing grill removably combined to a backsight bunch of a rifle or the like in a rail manner is mounted on the bottom of the housing 10, which may be subject to the general technical concept and therefore separate explanation of which is omitted.

The first lens 20 acts as an eyepiece or a similar one sealing the one end of the housing 10 directing to the shooter and has a disc or similar shape made of transparent insulating material such as glass, plastics or the like. Preferably, the light emitting element 22 such as an LED or the like is mounted on one side of the first lens 20 directing to the target and first and second transparent wirings are stacked on some or all of the one side and are connected to an external power supply via the housing 10.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the first lens 20 serving as the sighting lens according to the present invention and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 3.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4 in conjunction with FIG. 2, the light emitting element 22 such as an LED or the like is mounted on one base surface of the first lens 20 made of transparent insulating material such as glass, plastics or the like and is connected to the external power supply via the first and second transparent wirings 24 and 26 stacked on some or all of the one base surface.

In this case, preferably, the light emitting element 22 emits light with high brightness and is small enough not to hide the line-of-sight of the shooter. As one example, the light emitting element 22 may be a type of SMD (Surface Mount Device) mounted on the first lens 20 in a COG (Chip On Glass) manner, which emits light having a wavelength of 650 nm or so, or alternatively, may be a multi-structure organic electroluminescent element stacked on the first lens through a semiconductor manufacturing process, which emits light having the same wavelength band.

For reference, as used herein, the semiconductor manufacturing process refers collectively to sequential repetition of steps including thin film deposition of specific material, thin film patterning by photolithography and etching, and cleaning. The photolithography refers collectively to sequential repetition of steps including photoresist coating, photoresist exposure using a mask, and photoresist patterning by development using a developer, which have the consistent same meaning in the specification. The organic electroluminescent element refers collectively to a multi-layered element which includes a hole transport layer, an organic emission layer and an electron transport layer stacked in this order between an anode electrode layer, a cathode electrode layer and emits a visible ray when exitons formed in the organic emission layer by recombination of holes in the hole transport layer and electrons in the electron transport layer under application of positive and negative voltages to the anode electrode layer and the cathode electrode layer, respectively, transition from an exited state to a ground state, which is well known in the art of display and therefore detailed explanation of which is omitted.

The first and second transparent wirings 24 and 26 are used to supply power to the light emitting element 22 for emission by connecting the external power supply and the light emitting element 22. An example of the transparent wirings 24 and 26 may include a thin film of ITO (Indium-Tin-Oxide), IZO (Indium-Zinc-Oxide) or carbon nano tube stacked on the first lens 20 through a semiconductor manufacturing process. In this case, the first and second transparent wirings 24 and 26 may have a high degree of freedom for shape, size and arrangement depending on their purpose of use.

For reference, if the organic electroluminescent element is used as the light emitting element 22, one of the first and second transparent wirings 24 and 26 is made of the same material as one of the two electrode layers (the anode electrode layer and the cathode electrode layer) in the organic electroluminescent element directing to the target, while the other is made of opaque material.

As a result, the first lens 20 according to the preset invention can contribute to stable feed of power into the light emitting element 22 through the first and second transparent wirings 24 and 26, without hiding the line-of-sight of the shooter, and the light emitting element 22 can serve as a point light source emitting light toward the second lens 40.

Returning to FIG. 2, the transparent window 40 acts as an objective lens or a similar one sealing the other end of the housing 10 directing to the target and has a disc or similar shape made of transparent material such as glass, plastics or the like.

The second lens 40 is interposed between the first lens 20 and the transparent window 30 within the housing 10 and reflects light having a specific wavelength band (for example, about 650 nm) emitted from the light emitting element 22 toward the first lens 20, while passing light other than the light having the specific wavelength band so that the shooter can view the target through the first and second lenses 20 and 40 and the transparent window 30. The second lens 40 also has a disc or similar shape made of transparent material such as glass, plastics or the like.

In this case, preferably, the second lens 40 is a reflecting lens concaved from the shooter side toward the target to allow light incident from the light emitting element 22 into the second lens 40 to be diffused to some degrees and reflected, so that the shooter can perceive a light point regardless of the light emitting element 22 mounted on the first lens 20.

As a result, the shooter of the dot sight according to the present invention can exactly aim at the target rapidly and correctly with no tunnel vision by overlapping the light point perceived within the line-of-sight with the target with the line-of sight concentrated on the target. In this course, since the first and second lenses 20 and 40 and the transparent window 30 are arranged perpendicular to the line-of sight of the shooter, it is possible to easily and clearly perceive the light point at all times and minimize unnecessary diffused reflection.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a bow sight as another example of the sighting system to which the sighting lens according to the present invention is applied, and FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the bow sight according to the present invention. As a matter of convenience, the same elements as the above description are denoted by the same reference numerals and representations and explanation of which will not be repeated.

As shown, the bow sight according to the present invention includes a housing 10 attached to a gun and providing a lens hole 12, and a first lens 20 mounted in the lens hole 12.

The first lens 20 has substantially the same configuration and operation as those described earlier except that the light emitting element 22 is mounted on the outer surface of the first lens 20 directing to the shooter and the first and second transparent wirings 24 and 26 (see FIGS. 3 and 4) are stacked on the outer surface of the first lens 20.

As a result, the shooter of the bow sight according to the present invention can exactly aim at the target correctly by overlapping the light point perceived within the line-of-sight with the target with the line-of sight concentrated on the target. In this course, since the first lens 20 is arranged perpendicular to the line-of sight of the shooter, the shooter can easily and clearly perceive the light point at all times and minimize unnecessary diffused reflection regardless of specialty such as precision or the like.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The exemplary embodiments are provided for the purpose of illustrating the invention, not in a limitative sense. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A lens for sighting, comprising: a first lens (20) which is inserted in a housing (10) of a sight fixed to a gun and is disposed perpendicular to a line-of-sight of a shooter; a light emitting element (22) which is mounted on one surface or the other surface of the first lens (20) and emits light having a specific wavelength band; and first and second transparent wirings (24 and 26) which are stacked on the one surface or the other surface of the first lens (20) and supply power to the light emitting element (22).
 2. The lens for sighting according to claim 1, wherein the light emitting element (22) is one of an LED of a SMD (Surface Mount Device) type mounted on the one surface or the other surface of the first lens (20) in a COG (Chip On Glass) manner and a multi-layered organic electroluminescent element stacked on the one surface or the other surface of the first lens (20).
 3. The lens for sighting according to claim 1, wherein the first and second transparent wirings (24 and 26) are made of one of ITO (Indium Tin Oxide), IZO (Indium Zinc Oxide) and carbon nano tube.
 4. A sighting system for dot sight, comprising: a cylindrical housing (10) which is fixed to a gun and has one end direction to a shooter and the other end directing to a target; a first lens (20) which is inserted in the housing (10) to seal the one end of the housing (10), with a light emitting element (22) mounted on one surface or the other surface of the first lens (20); a transparent window (30) which is inserted in the housing (10) to seal the other end of the housing (10); and a second lens (40) which is interposed perpendicular to a line-of sight of the shooter between the first lens (20) and the transparent window (30) within the housing (10) and selectively reflects light having a specific wavelength band toward the shooter.
 5. The sighting system for dot sight according to claim 4, wherein the second lens (40) is a reflecting lens.
 6. A sighting system for bow sight, comprising: a housing (10) which is fixed to a gun and provides a lens hole (12); and a first lens (20) which is inserted in the lens hole (12), with a light emitting element (22) mounted on one surface or the other surface of the first lens (20). 